Page 17 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

Zahra.

It is way too early for whatever nonsense that is, so I yawn and step over it onto my back patio into the sunlight.

In my arms, my baby fusses as though I didn’t just change and feed him.

Touching a kiss to his forehead, I murmur, “It’s okay. Let’s get you a little sunshine.” Cradling his face at an angle so his sweet little eyes aren’t in direct line of the morning rays, I begin humming “You Are My Sunshine.”

Somehow, blissfully, I forget everything else.

“It’s okay,” I whisper. “Mommy’s here.”

“What if he wants Daddy?”

Alexios’s voice sends my heart into my ribs.

Turning sharply, I discover the dang yamachichi leaning against my house, head down, eyes fixed on his phone. I grimace. “You arenothis daddy. He doesn’t need a daddy. Daddies are disappointing.”

Alexios spares me a half-second glance. “Agree to disagree.”

“What are you doing?”

“Texting.”

“Who?”

His lips curl in an insipid smile. “Nosy much? Your inquiry issoulmatelevel. Currently, you’re on my unrequited affection plan. Upgrade to enjoy further perks.” Finishing his text message, he drops his phone into his pocket and opens his arms.

I stiffen. “No. Mine.”

“Yes, yes.Yours.” A level of ire laces the word. “But, tell me, has he not grown fussier with every hour?”

“That has nothing to do with wantingyou.”

His smile is blinding. “Right again. Sosmartyou are, snowflake. But, riddle me this: have you ever cared for an ent before?”

I scowl and don’t bother responding.

“Now, I don’t speakexpression, but I think that frown of yours translates tono.” He takes a solid step forward. “You co-slept.”

“I’ve done research. It’s good for children to co-sleep. Safely. I know what I’m doing. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to be a mother.”

“And you know next to nothing about how to take care of an ent, which—last I checked—was a main reason I’m here.” His calm disintegrates as a finality enters his tone. “Allow me to educate you. Don’t let the baby pay for your pride.”

My stomach clenches, but I force myself to humble, handing over my infant into his embrace. The second my baby’s slight weight leaves my arms, unease riots inside me.

“Are you well?” Alexios asks.

“Peachy,” I quip. “Tell me what I’m doing wrong, so I don’t need you anymore.”

Alexios’s eyes roll, and he passes me to head toward a part of my backyard that sees a lot of foot traffic, leaving behind a stretch of trampled soil. Wordlessly, he unwraps my newborn andbegins burying him. Emotionless, he drawls, “Dryads and ents require sun, water, and soil to thrive. In the absence of one, the other two are necessary. His crib is a dirt pile for a reason, Zahra.” Letting my baby’s tiny hands fill with dirt, Alexios murmurs, “Had I known sooner, I could have told you.” He glares back at me,judgy. “Iwonderhow I may have been able to knowsooner… Perhaps if I had not been sent to sleep inthe cold…”

I cross my arms and lift my chin. “Don’t youdarestart with me. I will decimate you if you so much as try to guilt trip. You can’t begin to comprehend the amounts of shame I’ve lived with fordecades. There is nothing you could possibly say that would faze me.”

Alexios’s lip juts, but he looks back at my baby, plants a hand on either side of his little body, and leans over him to settle a kiss to the top of his sweet head without another word. The action is so tender it’s almost a redeeming quality.

Unfortunately, the insipid faerie opens his mouth again after a few short moments, squandering the beginning of his redemption arc like a petulant villain no better than Bowser.

“You ignored my letter.”

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